Sand and Rain
by maybe4894
Summary: Gaara rediscovers a girl from his past. She know about his demons, but what does he really know about her? Reviews welcome and appreciated!
1. Rediscovery

"Kazekage, we have a situation."

Gaara finished reading over the report, then lifted his head. A look of surprise flitted across his face, but was quickly suppressed. "What is it?"

If the situation had been better, Baki would have smiled. 'Taking him by surprise is an accomplishment in its own right.' "We have a problem on our northern border."

"What happened?"

Baki frowned. "Our night patrol never came back."

Gaara looked at him steadily. "Send a team of ANBU to investigate."

"A team of four was already sent on an intercept." Baki smiled sourly. "Only one returned. He said the rest of his team was taken out by a single ninja."

Gaara's eyes sharpened. He nodded for Baki to continue.

"He said the only reason he had been sent back was to deliver a message. 'Tell the Kazekage to come. I will only speak to him.' Baki looked up as Gaara stood.

"You will take me there."

Baki smiled. "Give me five minutes to assemble a team."

…

The desert wind was hot and high. The group of ninjas stood a hundred yards back from the edge of the northern forest. Among them were Gaara's siblings, Temari and Kankuro, who had insisted on coming against his command. There was also Baki and Matsuri, as well as four ANBU Black Ops. All attention was on the sight at the edge of the forest.

A single ninja sat in the midst of a group of bodies. A woman. She was clothed in dark grey, from the short, T-back shirt to the above knee pants she wore. She had black wrapping from the hem of her shirt to the top of her pants, as well as from her pants to mid shin. She also had a plain black band across her upper arms. She sat as if in meditation, an ANBU mask covering her face. It had no village markings. The ground around her was pooled with blood.

Gaara stepped forward. "What do you want?"

The woman stood. As she started toward the Kazekage, Baki barked orders to his men.

Two of the four ANBU ran forward to intercept her. Even as they approached, the woman never hesitated in her slow, slightly unsteady walk towards the Kazekage. As the first ANBU reached her, he made a grab for her, attempting to hold her where she was. The woman reacted with lightning speed, avoiding his hand and grasping his head with her own. She spun, delivered a swift kick, and the first ANBU dropped. As she turned, the second ANBU was already throwing stars. She dodged these liquidly, gracefully, always moving forward. She then pulled a single wakizashi* from a sheath on her back. She slid down onto her knees as she passed the second ANBU, slashing through the tendons in her ankles. The ANBU collapsed. The woman resheathed her blade and continued to walk towards Gaara.

"Stop." Gaara looked at Baki, a dangerous look in his eye. "I will handle this." He stepped forward.

As the woman drew near him, she staggered. While she righted herself, Temari whispered to Baki, "Look how she's bleeding. It's amazing she's able to walk at all." It was true. Since she had started her walk towards the group, she had been leaving a rather large trail of blood. Baki's eyes widened. To be able to move with such grievous wounds, much less fight off two ANBU, required amazing skill and strength of will. 'What does she want from him?'

The woman stopped five feet from Gaara. She reached her arm up, as if to draw her sword. As her hand reached behind her, a series of stars flew from the group behind Gaara. The woman spun around, ducking towards the ground. As she stood up, she held a single star in her hand.

Gaara spoke without turning around. "Matsuri."

Matsuri stepped forward next to Gaara. "She's trying to kill you, Gaara. It's our sworn job to protect.."

Gaara interrupted her. "It is your job to follow my orders. Step back, Matsuri."

Matsuri glowered for a moment, then stepped back with the others.

Gaara spoke again to the woman. "What do you want?"

The woman stood silent for a moment. Her clothes were stained and dark in places, especially her left side, where the blood visibly flowed. Then, once again, she lifted her hand upward. She put her hand to the back of her head and pulled. A long spill of white hair flowed down her back. Then she pulled the mask from her face and let it fall to the ground.

Gaara froze. He couldn't seem to catch his breath. 'It can't be her…'

Temari also seemed frozen in place. 'Yabe*, we thought she was dead.'

As she tried to walk forward, the girl collapsed. Gaara reached forward and caught her. He turned her so she could look at him. As she reached up to touch his face, she smiled. "Gaara…."

As she passed out in his arms, he pushed the long, sideways bangs out of her face.

"Maya."


	2. Hospital

Maya dreamed…..

She was five years old again. Her father's most recent trip had taken them to Sunagakure, in the hopes of better trading with a ninja village. As he set up shop, noticed how bored she appeared. He told her to go find some other kids her age. "Have some fun while we're here." He said with a smile.

"Thanks, daddy!" Maya hugged him, and ran off down the road.

….

Maya was happy. She hadn't found any other kids her age yet, but she had found a vendor that sold some kind of amazing, sweet yellow fruit. It had been delicious. As she rounded a corner, she saw a group of older kids playing with a ball. As she watched, one of the boys kicked the ball to hard, and it sailed up onto a ledge. Almost by magic, the ball lifted and slowly made it's way to a young boy's hands. The boy looked at the ball for a moment, the offered it to the older kids. Instead of taking it, the yelled insults and ran off. The boy seemed very upset.

'What a bad thing to do.' Maya thought, as the boy turned away. "Wait!" She ran towards the boy. As he turned toward her, she smiled at him. "You dropped your bear." As he took it, she said, "Wanna swing with me? Its no fun by yourself."

The boy looked at her warily.

Maya tried to give him a "grown-up" look. "You know, it's impolite to ignore people."

The boy looked down at the ground.

'Geez, this kid needs friends' Maya thought. So she did what she always did when she was unsure. She went with her instincts.

The boy gasped as threw her arms around him. He sat stiffly, holding onto his bear, until she let go.

"Come on, you gotta push me. Lets go!" As Maya ran off towards the swings, she turned her head and yelled back, "So, what's your name, anyways?"

The boy stood there a moment, obviously in shock. Then, astonishingly, he smiled at her. "My name's Gaara." He said, as he started forward.

She woke up slowly, feeling the pain seep through her body. As her eyes focused, she recognized the white walls and sterile settings. 'I'm in a hospital….' As her body started to wind up, the door opened. She sprang from her bed and into the far corner of the room, assuming a defensive stance.

As Sakura walked in, she immediately noticed the strange behavior of her patient. 'Fantastic' she thought. 'They dump this girl on me without a word about who she is or where she's from, and it looks like she's a complete psycho.' As Sakura slowly walked into the room, she tried to be reassuring. "Listen, Maya, I'm not here to hurt you. I was just coming in to check on your progress. Would you mind having a seat on the bed?"

Maya bared her teeth at the strange pink-haired girl. "You will not touch me."

Sakura sighed. "I've already touched you. A lot. I'm most of the reason you're alive. The rest of that reason is standing impatiently in the hallway. Now would you sit down so I can examine you?" Sakura continued looking at the girl, and sighed again. "Gaara, would you help me here?"

Maya stared as Gaara walked into the room. "So it was real…."

Gaara looked at her intensely. "Yes"

Maya, still looking at Gaara, spoke. "So I am in Sunagakure, and you are a medical-nin of this village."

"Not from this village, but I happened to be here on a mission at the time you were brought in." Sakura smiled, lightly. "It's a good thing, too. You might not have made it through without my villages knowledge of medicine. How long were you traveling with that wound in your side?"

Maya never even glanced her way. "Three days. I killed the squad they sent after me, but I was clumsy." She finally dropped her gaze from Gaara's. "They caught me off guard, while I was sleeping. I managed to kill three of them, but the fourth escaped. My injury prevented me from pursuing him. My only thought after that was to make it here." She looked up again, almost apologetically.

Sakura stared at her. "Three days! You should have been dead in twenty-four hours with a wound like that. It's amazing you got half the way you did." Sakura looked over at Gaara. "I need to examine her."

Gaara, still staring at Maya, nodded.

As Sakura approached, Maya stiffened, but made no noise as Sakura poked and prodded at her injuries. "Amazing…"Sakura said quietly. "The level of healing is rapid. I've never seen anything like it, except with Naruto." She looked up swiftly.

Maya chuckled softly. "I have no Tailed-Beast in me. The men at the hospital where I came from are…..very willing to try 'extreme' enhancement procedures."

Sakura looked quickly up at her. "You mean they experimented on you?"

Maya laughed coldly. "Our world is not as nice a place as it seems here."

Sakura shuddered, then looked over at Gaara. "Her wounds are healing rapidly. I would say she could be released tonight, as long as she takes it easy for a day or two." 'Amazing, considering she nearly died two days ago.'

Maya suddenly seemed embarrassed. "…I have no money for a room."

"You will stay with me." As Maya looked up again, Gaara's eyes were still burning into hers.

She looked down to the floor, her eyes shadowed. "I don't want to be a burden."

"I will pick you up here in two hours." As Gaara strode from the room, Maya walked to the window and stared out, a troubled expression on her face.

'Holy Hell,' Sakura thought, as she watched their last interaction. 'Just what exactly is going on here?' She looked over at Maya. The girl looked so lost and sad that she just wanted to go over and hug her. Except according to Temari this sad little girl could take her head off. Wonderful. As she closed the door, Sakura decided it was time to pay Temari another visit. 'She knows more than she's telling.'


End file.
